PTSD nightmare: July Fourth fireworks

While millions of Americans joyfully celebrate the Fourth of July with backyard barbeques and fireworks, military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder may choose to avoid the celebrations.

The fireworks can trigger severe anxiety and panic attacks in
those suffering from PTSD, causing flashbacks to times of war,
the US Department of Veteran Affairs said in a news release.

“It’s upsetting to most veterans with PTSD. It’s something
they try to avoid,” Dr. Jeffrey Fine, director of one of the
department’s PTSD programs, said in the release. As a result,
some veterans choose to stay home or celebrate America’s day of
independence in a quiet area.

But John E. Mundt, a clinical psychologist at the Jesse Brown VA
Medical Center in Chicago, told ABC News that the most
significant problem is the smaller fireworks that may be set off
before or after July 4 when veterans least expect
them.

"The bigger problem is all the smaller fireworks that start
getting used weeks ahead of July 4th and continue
getting used for weeks after the holiday sometimes,” Mundt
said. "Nobody knows when one of these little loud blasts is
going to occur. I've had clients have flashbacks when kids threw
M80s into their alley or backyard, or when somebody lights off a
string of firecrackers in their mailbox."

The sound of firecrackers, fireworks or other loud noises may
remind veterans of wartime explosions, attacks and gunshots,
triggering episodes in which they re-experience their trauma –
especially when the fireworks come at an unexpected time.

"Even with my recovery, the fireworks will kill me this week.
The [fireworks] stands are all open," Samuel Askins, who
served in operation Iraqi Freedom, told ABC. "Just last week,
I went fishing and I put the boat in the water when a cherry bomb
exploded. I fell out of the boat.”

Retired Army Sgt. James Roberts, a Florida veteran who suffers
from PTSD, told WPTV that he has spent each Fourth of July since
returning from Iraq alone at his house in Lake Worth, afraid of
the sights and sounds that he may encounter outside.

“I’m always on edge. I’m nervous,” Roberts told the
television station. “It’s like having a constant shot of
electricity continuously running through your body.”

PTSD victims who recently returned from combat are most likely to
suffer from severe symptoms. Veterans with PTSD often experience
trouble sleeping, nightmares, anxiety, fear, and hyperarousal.
Askins told ABC that he would lock himself in a closet, afraid of
encountering a tornado. He would also drink large quantities of
alcohol and take prescription painkillers.

Cherry bombs in trash cans reminded him of explosions in Iraq,
and Askins grew paranoid and began hoarding ammunition and
weapons. Panic attacks and a suicide attempt eventually landed
him in jail, where he said he felt “safer than in the real
world.”

Although not every veteran suffers from symptoms as severe as
Askins’, celebratory fireworks are often enough to ruin
Independence Day for tens of thousands of veterans. A 2012 report
from the Department of Veteran Affairs found that 30 percent of
the 800,000 veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq are suffering from
PTSD. With fireworks easily accessible across the country, they
could be going off unexpectedly at any time.

"There's a fireworks stand at nearly every major intersection
around here, sometimes two," David Maulsby, executive
director of the Houston chapter of the PTSD Foundation of
America, told ABC News.

But no matter how many years pass, some veterans may never be
able to participate in the annual celebrations of America’s
birthday.

"I will have to deal with this for the rest of my life,"
Askins said.

And 26-year-old Pete Chinnici, a Marine veteran who served two
tours in Iraq, told NBC that no matter how much he tells himself
that fireworks pose no risks, he cannot stop his symptoms from
flaring up.

"Even though you're aware that it may not be anything
dangerous, probably just fireworks, your body still goes through
the response," he said.